University Health Network - Academy of Medicine Collection
Category
Respirology
First Aid
Emergency
Classification
Respirology
First Aid
Emergency
Accession Number
1967.1.1 a-t
Description
Manual artifical respiration machine patented as Lungmotor was hand-operated.; black covered wooden suitcase with metal banding around all edges (k) with custom holders for the heavy silver Lungmotor (a) contained leather harness apparatus to hold the face mask on the face and other parts such as: …
Manual artifical respiration machine patented as Lungmotor was hand-operated.; black covered wooden suitcase with metal banding around all edges (k) with custom holders for the heavy silver Lungmotor (a) contained leather harness apparatus to hold the face mask on the face and other parts such as: (b) face mask; (c) folding tongue depressor, a chrome-plated tong-like device; (d) clamp-like device; (e) wrench; (f) clamp, one side double pronged, the opposite side spoon-shaped with two holes; (g,n) rubber bulbs; (h) small clamp-like structure; (i) leather harness; (j) metal "cup"; (l,m) metal tubing, corrugated and bendable; (o) rubber face mask ring; (p) piece of rubber tubing; (q) rubber tubing; (r) rubber tubing with metal end; (s) rubber wedge; (t) bag of hardened rubber bits (remains of borken bellows).
Number Of Parts
20
Part Names
a - lungmotor - Size: Length 54.5 cm x Width 11.0 cm x Depth 11.0 cm
b - face mask - Size: Length 14.0 cm x Width 11.3 cm
c - tongue depressor - Size: Length 8.2 cm
d - clamp-like device - Size: Length 11.0 cm
e - wrench - Size: Length 18.5 cm
f - clamp - Size: Length 13.5 cm
g - rubber bulb - Size: Length 7.0 cm x Diam. 3.2 cm
h - lungmotor - Size: Length 54.5 cm x Width 11.0 cm x Depth 11.0 cm
i - leather harness
j - metal "cup" - Size: Length 7.3 cm
k - case - Size: Length 62.3 cm x Width 36.2 cm x Depth 21.0 cm
l - metal tubing - Size: Length 90.5 cm
m - metal tubing - Size: Length 90.5 cm
n - rubber bulb - Size: Length 7.0 cm x Diam. 3.2 cm
o - face mask ring
p - piece of tubing - Size: Length 42.0 cm
q - rubber tubing - Size: Length 38.0 cm
r - rubber tubing with metal end - Size: Length 6.0 cm
s - rubber wedge - Size: Length 4.0 cm
t - bag of rubber bits
Provenance
Acquired from the Academy of Medicine; donated by Mr. Ivor Hunt, purchasing dept., Toronto East General Hospital.
On case: "THE LUNGMOTOR // MADE BY // LIFE SAVING DEVICES CO. // CHICAGO NEW YORK." on (h): "PATENTED // JULY 16. // 1907"; on (r): "A Schrader's Son Inc. BKLN NY. USA // US. PAT: JUNE 1916"
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0007
(k) case: 0007-H1-3
all other pieces: 0010-D6-6
Unit Of Measure
centimeters
Condition Remarks
March 2024: Rubber extremely brittle; leather with red rot, frayed, fragile; parts such as the bellows broken; incomplete; pump itself still in operating condition; case lid nearly separated from base
#2: the leather and bottom section of case has deteriorated badly with the screws loose; some rubber parts inside that require special treatment.
Resuscitators are used to assist people with breathing difficulties, as well as victims of gas or smoke inhalation and other accidents. The chemist, inventor and entrepreneur George Poe (1846-1914) produced nitrous oxide for S. S. White before founding his own company to manufacture the gas. Prompted by the dangers of this industry, he obtained patents for an artificial respiration machine in 1907. He sold these rights to Frank T. Fowler, a Chicago businessman, in 1912. Within a year Fowler had obtained a patent for a further development of Poe's apparatus, called the Lungmotor. This name imitated that of the well-known Draeger Pulmotor. Fowler may also have founded the Life Saving Devices Co., which manufactured both this model and the Infant Lungmotor. These were heavily advertised from 1913 into the 1920s, and were purchased by numerous public works and fire departments, hospitals and mining companies.
Unlike the Pulmotor, the Lungmotor was hand-operated. Pushing the handle down forced air, oxygen, or a combination of the two, into the victim's lungs. Raising the handle suctioned the air out again. Although the apparatus could be adjusted to limit the pressure applied, investigators judged it to be safe only in the hands of experts. But the first responders who used it were rarely experts. In the 1930 movie, Soup To Nuts, the comedy trio later known as The Three Stooges exemplify the wrong way to use a Lungmotor.